Glimpse the Future
by Fire Gazer the Alchemist
Summary: Princess Celestia just moved into Canterlot Castle, and decides to do some wayward exploring of her new home. She ends up finding more than she bargained for. One-shot.


**I wrote this story to be a companion to The Saga of Frostburn, however you don't need to read it to understand this one and vice versa. It wouldn't hurt to read them both, but you don't have to.**

* * *

_It's very dark, wherever she is. Dark and cold. She's lying down on a hard surface, so she gets up. Her hooves touch the rough surface as she realizes that she is not wearing her bracers. Upon further inspection she finds that she is wearing none of her royal attire. Desperately, she scans her surroundings, only to see nothing. "What is this place?" The white alicorn says to the darkness. It does not respond. Celestia cast a light spell from her horn. Even though she is using the weakest form of the spell, and is barely channeling any magic to it, a blinding light is made. That's the thing with alicorn magic, it's a little too strong. When you want to do the simple things like levitation or light making, you have to exercise restraint. She shields her eyes for a moment, but they soon adjust._

_"Hello?" She calls out again, just to make sure she is in fact, alone. There is no answer. Celestia begins to look around at her surroundings, or a lack thereof. The ground is made of rock. Rocks, either big or small, cover the ground. That's it. No trees, no grass, no buildings. Just rock. Now she's wondering where she is. The Badlands perhaps? No, the Badlands are crawling with vicious creatures and lowlifes and changelings. The ground there – while just as unpleasant as this ground – is covered in tracks, dried blood, and other things. Here the ground is so… undisturbed._

_Perhaps a clue could be found in the constellations. Princess Celestia looks up towards the sky. What she sees shocks her into losing focus of the light spell. It flickers off. The princess brings it back, but she really wasn't focusing on it. She was focusing on a blue sphere suspended in the sky. It was small, or rather, very far away. It was so round, that it almost appeared to be a marble. Princess Celestia had no idea what she was looking at. There never has been a blue sphere hanging above Equestria's sky. Wait a minute…_

_Gazing closer at the blue marble, Celestia saw shapes on its surface. One shape in particular was very familiar. Suddenly Celestia realized where she recognized the shape from. It was the same shape cartographers used when drawing Equestria on maps. She was looking at Equestria! It wasn't on a map though, this was the real Equestria. Celestia realized that blue marble was actually the planet Earth. But if that was Earth, then where was she._

_Turning her gaze back to the rocky surface of wherever she was, Celestia was struck with the horrifying knowledge of where she was. The Moon. The same place she had banished her sister too. Celestia screamed._

She was still screaming when she finally woke up, the nightmare over. Princess Celestia had a cold sweat that had broken out all over her face. She was breathing heavily, still in a state of terror from her dream. The door to her bedroom slammed open and two figures rushed inside.

"Princess Celestia, are you all right?" The first figure asks in a gruff voice. For a moment, the white alicorn is still scared. Then she remembers that she is in her room. These were her guards. She was in her room, in the Canterlot Castle. Her castle really, but it would never feel like home. The knowledge that she was safe, and not stranded on the moon was comforting though. She looked at her guards.

"I'm… I'm okay." She says, feeling her heart rate go down. "It was just a nightmare." Though the princess says that more to console herself than the guards. It was not the first nightmare she had ever had. It was also not the first time she had had the particular nightmare either. No matter what though, it was always terrifying.

"Will you be all right?" The second guard asks. His voice is much smoother than the first guards. His talking calms Celestia down slightly more.

"I will be fine." She tells the two guards. "It just seems that no matter what I do, I will always have this bad dream haunting me." The first guard seems satisfied with this, and begins to walk out. The second guard lingers.

"Is there something else?" Princess Celestia asks him. She does not mean for it to sound annoyed, but it comes across that way given the look on the guard's face.

"Well…" The guard says. "I used to have nightmares too. But I found out about these artifacts made by the zebras. You see, they use magic to trap bad dreams so the user can sleep soundly. I thought perhaps you would like one."

"Oh." Celestia says. She is intrigued by the thought. A device to stop the nightmares would be most welcome. "Where could I find such an artifact?" She asks.

"I heard that the Library has lots of old relics in it." The guard replies. "Maybe you could search there in the morning."

"I will look for it now." Celestia says, rising from her bed.

"Princess, you should get your sleep." The guard says.

"I won't be able to sleep." Celestia responds. "Not with these nightmares still plaguing my dreams. If one of those relics can help me rest peacefully, then I want it now."

The guard sees that Celestia is determined. "Very well then." He says. "I'll go with you."

"Are you sure?" Celestia asks. The guard nods.

"You should always have a guard with you." He says. "And besides, you don't know what these artifacts look like, and I do." Celestia acknowledges the logic of his argument. Though she would prefer to be alone, she allows the guard to accompany her to the Library.

As they leave her bedroom, the meet the first guard at the door. He looks at them curiously, but Princess Celestia asks him to stay by her bedroom for when she returns. He does not disobey.

The halls of Canterlot castle are not well lit yet. Celestia had only lived in the castle for a few months, and had yet to get around to setting up some of the basic utilities, lights included. Because the guard is not a unicorn, Celestia creates a light with her horn. Nothing very bright, just a small beam to guide them through the hallway. The two begin walking silently.

For the first time, Celestia actually gets to see what the guard looks like. In her bedroom he had been backlit, but now with the light of her horn, she can clearly see the navy blue pegasus in golden armor. His hair is a vibrant shade of orange, or possibly red, she wasn't entirely sure because it was such a bright shade.

As they begin their descent, the guard asks, "What was your nightmare about?"

The princess had not been expecting such a question. She wasn't quite sure she should answer. Then again, it would be nice to tell somepony about it, even if it was just a guard working the graveyard shift.

"I dreamt," She said. "That I was trapped on the moon."

"Any reason you would have a nightmare like that?" The guard asked.

"I…" _Should she really tell him?_ Celestia wasn't sure. It was a very personal topic for her, and it was likely somepony who didn't know her well would not understand. She looked at the bronze eyes of the guard. They looked so sincere. "I believe it's because of my sister. I sent her to the moon several months ago because she…"

"I know the story." The guard said. "She was attempting to usurp the daytime. You did the right thing by incarcerating her."

"But why does it feel so wrong?" Celestia asked. "I feel so much guilt for banishing my only sister to a millennium on the surface of the moon." Her voice hushed into a whisper. "In my dreams, it's so barren, so lifeless. So utterly terrifying. And I can't help but think myself to be cruel for sentencing her there." Celestia had no idea why she was confiding all of this to her guard. But it felt good to have the burden alleviated like this.

The guard was silent for a moment. "You were left with no choice." He said. "In light of the circumstances, you made the best decision possible. And it's because you feel this guilt that you know you're not a bad pony." He finally said.

"It's not the guilt that drives the nightmares though." Celestia said. The guard raised an eyebrow at her. "It's my sister. Luna. She can enter the dreams of ponies and alter them. And I think that is what she is doing to me."

"She's giving you those terrible nightmares?" The guard asked. Celestia nodded. The guard was quiet again. Celestia knew he wouldn't know what to say. They had finally reached the library, she let the conversation drop.

The Canterlot Library had been locked up since before Celestia had moved in. She had never found a key for it yet. The guard looked at the locked gate of the door slightly disappointed.

"I guess we won't be able to get in tonight." He said. Celestia responded by firing a thin bolt of magic at the lock, shattering it. Her levitation spell slid the door open.

"You're determined to get that artifact." The guard said.

"I'm not going to sleep again until I know my dreams are safe." The white alicorn responded. The navy blue pegasus shrugged slightly at that.

"Let's just go in and grab it." He said. Princess Celestia took two steps into the library before remembering that she had no idea what it was that she was looking for.

"What does this supposed artifact look like?" She inquired of the guard. He was already moving around, searching various objects with the light from Celestia's horn.

"It's small." He said. "They're kind of like these wooden circles, netted around by yarn or sting, and usually have something dangling down at the bottom."

"That's a little vague don't you think?" Celestia asked him.

"You'll know it when you see it." The pegasus replied simply. Celestia rolled her eyes and began searching for the artifact. There was little talking, except the occasional comment from the guard asking for some light. Nothing resulted from the first few minutes of searching. Celestia began to lose hope that she would be able to sleep peacefully that night. A triumphant cry from her guard restored her hope.

"I've got it!" He called, confirming her initial impression. She walked over to him as he proudly displayed the artifact in front of her. It was similar to what he described. A thin ring of mahogany, barely the size of her hoof, comprised the outside. The inner part of the circle had weaves of gossamer to form a little star. Below, held by the same lines of gossamer, three orange feathers resided.

"It's beautifully crafted." Celestia said. "What is it called?

"I believe they're called dreamcatchers. And this is a good one." The guard said. He pointed to the feathers. "Those come from a phoenix, which builds up the strength of the overall talisman and allows it to withstand the toughest of dreams."

"I've always been partial to phoenixes." Celestia said. "They would make a good pet when you're immortal like I am." The guard chuckled slightly.

"What would you even name a phoenix?" He asked her.

Celestia thought for a moment. "Philomena." She said. That only seemed to be more amusing to the guard. "What?" She asked.

"Kind of a silly name for a bird." He said.

"Well I like it." Celestia responded, feeling the need to justify her spontaneous idea.

"Fine, don't let me stop you from naming your phoenix that." The guard said. His attention returned to the artifact. "We should get this up to your room."

"Agreed. I'm suddenly very tired." Celestia said. The two looked around. "Do you remember which direction we came from?" The princess asked.

"No, I thought you knew." He said, slightly worried. The white alicorns gaze drifted through the labyrinthine set up of the bookshelves and found no clear exit. She shook her head. "Well that's just great." The guard said.

"We'll get out of here." Celestia reassured him.

"Easy for you to say. You can teleport out of here at any moment, meanwhile I'm going to be stuck here all night." The guard said.

"I won't leave you." Celestia said firmly. She meant it too. The navy blue pegasus calmed down a little. Celestia looked around again. Then she spotted something that might work. "There's a window." She said. "We can fly out through there.

To show the guard where, she shined her ray of light on the window. Then something really unexpected happened. The ray of light seemed to bounce off of the window.

"What the…" The guard said. Celestia was equally surprised. No window she had ever seen could bend light like that. They both watched the ray of light as it hit a mirror a few bookshelves away. From there the light hit a silver globe on a study table, and then a violet crystal that was three feet away from them. Each time it bounced, the ray of light magnified slightly. The crystal changed its color to purple when it contacted the crystal.

"This is nuts." The guard cried. Celestia agreed with him. It was indeed nuts. The purple light ceased to bounce when it hit a rune on a blank wall of the library. The whole floor seemed to shake as the brick walls parted. When the shaking stopped, Celestia walked over to the opening.

"Be careful, Princess Celestia." The guard cautioned. Celestia did not acknowledge that she had heard him. She continued to the opening out of blunt curiosity. What she found, was another unexpectancy.

"It's a staircase." She said.

"A what? But how?" The guard said, trotting up next to her.

"Well, now I have to know where it leads." Celestia said, she shined her light further down the staircase, then stepped forward. The guard moved to stop her.

"I think that's a very bad idea." He said.

"You can't stop me from going down there." The white alicorn said, all determination. The guard sighed.

"Okay. But I'm going first just in case." With her light to guide the way, both Celestia and the guard carefully transcended the staircase. After maybe fifty steps, they reached the bottom. The found themselves it what appeared to be an old storage cellar. Princess Celestia shined her light through the room and saw hundreds of rolled up parchments lining the shelves.

"What are these?" She asked. The guard, curious himself, picks out a random scroll and opens it.

"It appears," He said slowly. "That somepony was writing down predictions. Look at this." The guard hands Celestia the paper, which she takes with levitation. It was expertly written, probably by the use of unicorn magic to hold a quill. However, the calligraphy was the only good thing she could say about it. The whole thing was written in some sort of riddle. All she could really decipher was some part about a wedding or an imposter or something. Frustrated, she rolled it up and placed it back on the shelf.

"I think these are prophecies." Celestia deduced.

"What are they all doing down here?" The guard asked.

"I'm not sure. This castle used to belong to Starswirled the Bearded. Perhaps if I read a few of his books I can find out something about it. For now, let's not…"

"Hey, look at this scroll"

"…touch anything else." Celestia finished. Her words fell on deaf ears as the guard walked right up and plucked out another scroll.

"It's all colored weird, you think that's significant?" He asked. Grudgingly, Celestia broke her own rule of not interfering with anything else to see what the guard was talking about. The scroll was weird. Unlike the rest of the scrolls in the room, which were on regularly colored parchment, this one was decorated with blue and red swirls. She unrolled it and read the writing.

_A soul trapped by its owner._

_ A curse making the pony a loaner._

_ Magic where it does not belong._

_ Resulting in power far too strong._

_Fire rages on the inside_

_Ice will cover those who hide_

_A dark one speaks out among other things_

_While the well of light has two springs._

_A war ignites, ravaging the land._

_ Life to ash, water to sand._

_ A choice to make, by a twice moon's peak,_

_ To save or condemn his voice must speak._

"What the buck does that mean?" The guard asked, then he winced when he realized his use of profanity in front of the Princess of the Sun. "Sorry." He whispered.

"It's okay. You took the words out of my mouth honestly." Celestia responded. Then she deeply yawned and remembered how sleepless her nights had recently been. "Listen, we can come back to these scrolls another time, right now I really need some sleep."

"Yeah, okay." The guard said, placing the scroll back where he found it. "Let's go back to your room so I can set up this dreamcatcher." The two ascended the stairs. As they climbed, Celestia realized there had been a question she never asked the guard.

"This may sound awkward." She said. "But, I don't even know what your name is." The guard was quiet for a minute before saying.

"Forgive me for being so rude as to not introduce myself." He said. "My name is Shiverfire."

"Shiverfire." Celestia repeated. "What an odd name."

"Odd?" Shiverfire asked. Celestia realized how rude she had just been.

"Oh no, not like that. I just never heard of a name that was just an oxymoron like that." She elaborated. Shiverfire shrugged.

"It's kind of a family tradition." He said. Celestia couldn't stop herself from laughing. "What?" He asked her.

"Oh nothing. It's just funny how someone from a family who names their foals after temperature oxymorons can think that Philomena is a weird name for a phoenix." The princess said amidst laughter.

"It is a weird name." Shiverfire defended. "If you ever do get a phoenix, you better not name her that."

"You know what, I think I will now. Just because of you." Celestia said. They both laughed as they reached the top of the staircase. Shiverfire spread his wings and flew up towards the window first, with Celestia not far behind. The navy blue pegasus unlatched the window and held it open for Celestia. She flew through it, followed by Shiverfire who shut the window.

In the cool night air, Celestia could see her own breath. Quietly, she looked up at the moon, whose surface had been shaped to look like her sister. Ponies had already begun calling it the Mare in the Moon. Celestia didn't care what her subjects called it, as long as they didn't call it who it really was. The only sound was the steady beat of wings.

"Princess Celestia." Shiverfire said as she stared at her sister's prison. "Will you be okay?" The Princess looked to him, and then to the dreamcatcher held between his hooves.

"I will be." She said. Her head turned to the tallest tower of the castle. "The nights are always the worst. In the day, I can distract myself with running the kingdom, but at soon as I raise the moon I can't stop the flood of memories." She felt her eyes water. "Let's go back to my room." The navy blue pegasus nodded and the two ascended back to Celestia's bedroom. The window was slightly ajar, which Shiverfire opened for her again. She touched down on her floor gracefully. Shiverfire was slightly less so.

As he began to install her new dreamcatcher, Celestia surveyed her room. After tonight, she felt like she could really call this her room, and not just a space she occupied in an formerly abandoned castle.

Shiverfire turned to leave, bowing respectfully. "Thank you, for coming with me tonight." Celestia told him.

"It was an honor, Princess." He replied. She smiled gratefully, then lied down on her bed, asleep instantly. Shiverfire smiled at the sleeping alicorn, before walking to the door. As he opened the door, a glint of steel flashed before him, stopping right before his eyes. Shiverfire would have flinched had he not been trained so well.

"Sorry." Came the gruff voice of the first guard. "I thought you were an intruder."

"It's a good thing you realized I wasn't." Shiverfire said calmly. He was actually offended and angry, but restrained from raising his voice, not wishing to awaken Princess Celestia. The stallion resheathed his weapon. "That's a pretty swift sword you got there." Shiver told the umber pony.

"Thank you." He replied. They stood in silence for the rest of the night, guarding a Princess who did not dream.


End file.
